


Giving It Another Go

by Emirael



Category: Avatar: Legend of Korra
Genre: Alternate Universe - Cyberpunk, Alternate Universe - Future, Alternate Universe - Post-Canon, Boarding School, Childhood Friends, F/F, Friends to Lovers, Korrasami Week, Korrasami Week 2018, Reincarnation
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-09-18
Updated: 2018-09-20
Packaged: 2019-07-13 20:00:05
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 2,553
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16024949
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Emirael/pseuds/Emirael
Summary: There are advantages and disadvantages to getting to live in the world you created.Post-canon fic featuring the Earth Avatar after Korra, explorations of a pseudo-cyberpunk Avatar world, and some incredibly indulgent Korrasami reincarnation nonsense. Also, the canon-compliant friends-to-lovers boarding school Korrasami scenes you always wanted.For Korrasami Week 2018





	1. Hero

**Author's Note:**

> Nobody asked for this and it is NOT the fic update you expected from me but.... HEY. Consider this a weird one-week universe exploration into a post-canon sorta-cyberpunk future. and consider it me trying to get more into the whole writing thing.

**Part 1: Hero**

 

The Avatar is many things.

Hero, guide, advisor, figurehead, legend.

Holdover from an older time.

A looming shadow over history.

Or sometimes a brief wisp of a life.

Avatars disrupt dynasties and create islands.

They adopt lost animals and raise families.

Their friends are often counted among the legendaries. Rotating casts in stories that can shake the world to its barest foundations.

Plays and movers tell and retell and reinvent The Avatar in an endless cycle of stories recycled out of scrolls and crumbling parchment. Over and over The Avatar falls in love on-screen.

And what love.

Short of the ancient dramas, what could be more dramatic than love with The Avatar. Bridge between worlds. Reincarnated guardian. Prodigy and destiny and romance? It’s the stuff TV series are made of.

And with Kyoshi’s lifespan clocking in at 230 years, the slightly-fictionalized account of her life and lovers is just barely hitting its stride in its 17th season. The source material is almost as endless as the Avatar cycle itself.

To an extent, the world seemed to expect Korra to keep going on forever too.

When she hits 150, Korra goes on a world tour. Asami Sato goes too, and nobody is quite sure if Asami is so long-lived because she’s with The Avatar, or if it’s a Future Industries thing. Maybe both.

They smile for the cameras and the holorecords. Share a kiss and make the interviewers blush.

The world has changed more in their lifetimes than anyone could have thought.

Spirit world integrations. Technological sensations.

The Avatar says on a livestreamed interview that a little girl told her that ‘Korra flexing’ was a meme, and she poses for the camera. Her white hair doesn’t diminish her charismatic smile, and she happily recounts a couple fan-favorite Avatar showdowns. Some meditation tips for people who would rather be boxing.

Asami Sato demures when asked about the latest updates on spirit-energy prosthetics, but _does_ confirm that magna-gliders are in the works. To everyone’s joy, she also announces upcoming coverage patches for accessing the spiritnet from places with low ambient spiritual energy.

They seem invincible. The ultimate power couple. More responsible than any others for the creation of the modern world. On the year of their tour, the names ‘Korra’ and ‘Asami’ spike the popularity charts for newborns.

The Avatar is a hero.

Then The Avatar is dead. Passes from the world in her sleep. The world jokes that death could only come on her sleeping, afraid of taking Korra in a fair fight.

And in the dawn after Korra’s passing, a little girl is born in what used to be called The Earth Kingdom.

And oh. Is she _ever_ in for it. The only thing worse than living down a reputation is living up to one.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is gonna be a collection of short fic nuggets that take place in this ridiculously contrived AU because that's what I love best. Enjoy!!
> 
> Korrasami Week 2018 prompts:  
> Hero  
> Morning Routine  
> Smile  
> Dancing  
> (and they were)Roommates  
> Fantasy  
> Childhood Friends


	2. Morning Routine

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> With names like these, who needs enemies?
> 
> Day 2 of Korrasami Week - Morning Routine

**Part 2: Morning Routine**

 

It’s not that Korra isn’t grateful for The Avatar’s legacy. She just has the worst name in the world.

Every morning she gets up and fumbles around her room for her lev gear, pulling on her practice suit with bleary eyes before stuffing her elbow pads and boot hooks into her bag.

She swears up and down to herself that when she gets home that evening, she _will_ remember to put everything back in after airing it out.

(Every day after school, she dumps out her practice bag on the floor to air out and forgets about it.)

Dragging herself into the kitchen, Korra mumbles a ‘thank you’ to her father for breakfast before digging in.

He chuckles. “Freshly hunted walrus-seal, just for my girls.”

Korra rolls her eyes. He got it at the store.

Across the table, her younger sister giggles.

“Don’t encourage him,” Korra mutters.

When breakfast is done, Korra’s mom walks with her to the mag train station. This morning, Korra decides not to huff and say, “I’m twelve and I can walk myself.” She’s recently realized that her mother doesn’t walk her because she thinks Korra can’t walk herself. Because her mom lets her ride the train the practice alone.

Her mom walks with her so they have a few minutes alone together just to talk. Catch up. Exist and smile.

So she indulges her mom. Because clearly her mom needs this.

And if Korra has privately decided that maybe it’s kinda nice for her too, she doesn’t say anything.

But she does let her mom wait for the train with her, and gives her a hug before hopping on.

She clips in her spirit buds and tunes them to the train’s spiritnet antenna. Her favorite frequency plays upbeat music and Korra feels like she’s finally waking up for the day.

By the time she makes it to the practice dome, she is _on_. Pads and lev board ready to go, she launches into the air and puts herself through some warm-up loops as the rest of the team files in.

When the coach puts them into scrimmage teams, one of her teammates claps her back. “C’mon Avatar, you ready to go?”

Korra chucks the lev ball at him. “Shut up and play.”

The rest of her team laughs, and Korra shoots them a glare.

“There are at least four other people named Korra,” she grumbles, “and that’s just in our year.”

Close to her, another teammate shrugs. “Yeah, but you even kinda look like her. And you kinda act like her too. He didn’t mean anything by it.”

Korra huffs and streaks across the levitation field toward her position. She’s a good player. Maybe the best on the team, and one of the best in their league. But she has the worst name in the world. How is she supposed to make a name for herself when somebody else already has?

*

Asami is usually at school first. On arrival, she takes her usual spot and settles in with a book, fiddling with a bracelet in her other hand.

When Korra arrives, she does so with aplomb, snatching the reading screen out of Asami’s lap. “What are we reading today?”

From anybody else, it would have been the height of obnoxious behavior.

From Korra, well, Asami finds herself smiling. She easily snatches it back, since she has at least a hands-with of height on her friend. “ _We_ are not reading anything. Except for _‘Love amongst the Dragons’_ for lit. I, personally, am reading ' _Kuruk, Volume Three’_ and it is super sad.”

Korra pauses. Frowns. “We only had to read through Act I of _Dragons_ , right?”

Asami bites her lip. “We’re supposed to be to Act II, Scene 3.”

Korra opens her mouth, shuts it, then shrugs. “I have time. It’s not til after lunch anyway.”

Asami discreetly taps a reminder into her reading screen. Her friend does not generally spend her lunches reading.

They walk together and Korra tells her about the morning practice scrimmage. Asami gives Korra the latest updates on the ‘home improvement’ project her father is working on, and the holovid chat they had with her mom last night. It kind of sucks that she’s always away on business, but at least she _does_ take the time to call every couple days.

Then Korra remembers a ‘completely flipped’ move she pulled in the scrimmage. She’s in the middle of adding to her account when one of the younger-grade kids dashes past them.

“Korra and Asami, sitting in a tree! K-I-S-S-I—“

Korra smoothly steers Asami through a sharp left turn, taking them down a side hall and away. Her eye is twitching. Without asking, Asami knows that somebody has probably already called her, ‘Avatar’ today.

They do not comment on it. There’s no point by now. None of the jokes are new by now. They resume their conversation a few strides down their new hallway path. Asami fiddles with her bracelet as they walk.

There are at least three other girls in their year named ‘Asami’ and it shouldn’t matter.

But none of the other Asami’s are best friends with any of the Korra’s. It’s just her. And her Korra. And a (mild, Asami tells herself) physical resemblance to their namesakes doesn’t help matters.

Asami Sato was an incredible person. Asami has read all about Ms. Sato and her accomplishments and she’s really amazing.

It’s not Ms. Sato’s fault that her name means that Asami can’t seem to shake her legacy. Can’t get away from other people constantly defining her by her relationship to her best friend. Even well-intentioned jokes get old. Asami isn’t sure she’ll ever invent anything at all, let alone change the world.

It’s not that Asami isn’t grateful for her namesake’s contributions to technology and culture and _everything_. She just has the worst name ever.

Korra slings an arm over her shoulder and tosses her a broad smile as they head to their first period class.

At least she has the best friend in the world. Everything else could follow after that.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Aaaand you've officially met our girls! This is definitely a weird experimental piece for me. Everything is shorter than I usually work because I Just Do Not Have Time for longer. I'm trying to let the length force me into writing more succinctly. I have a whole pile of story for this AU and I'm fairly determined to fit it into these 7 non-chronological prompts.
> 
> We will see.
> 
> Thoughts? Reactions? How familiar/unfamiliar do they feel? Reincarnation stories seem to walk a line between how close they toe to the originals. Too close is boring. Too unfamiliar and they feel just outright OOC. I'd love to hear your thoughts.


	3. Smile

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Not all smiles are created equal.
> 
> Day 2 of Korrasami Week - Smile

**Part 3: Smile**

 

The crowd roars when Korra soars into the dome. She flings her arms wide and and grins. “Good morning, Ba Sing Se! Are you ready to play?”

Laughter and cheers greet her back. One of Korra’s teammates claps her shoulder as he glides up alongside her. “You’re always good for moving a crowd, Korra.”

“We all have our talents.” She shrugs with false modesty.

In-sync, they pull into a dive towards the center of the pitch for the pre-game lineup.

“Maybe soon you’ll even learn to pass,” he calls over, a smile belying the criticism.

Korra doesn’t hesitate. She calls back, “Maybe soon you can even take the kiddie breaks off your lev board.” On this team, there’s always a smile behind the jibes.

(And Korra passes plenty. If she couldn’t, she wouldn’t have been first pick at the draft.)

The teams line up and shake hands. They stand at the ready while a pair of inspectors go down the lineups, touching each board to ensure there’s nothing fishy about the spirit energy pathways.

Korra’s board thrums under her fingers. Even though her hands are steady, the pre-game vibes can’t be helped. She strokes her thumb along one ridge and breathes deeply. Meditation isn’t her strong suit. But manifestation, she can do. Bringing her inner spirit into the physical world gives her room to stretch.

The levitation board, the game, the dome, the crowd—all great.

But the best part is the opportunity to be herself from the inside out, from her soul to the edges of her board.

Her board hums at a higher frequency, absolutely soaked with anticipation.

The inspector rests her fingertips on the tip, and Korra feels the foreign spirital gaze wind through her setup, making sure she hasn’t installed any last-minute siphons or disruptors.

Once she’s been cleared, Korra feels free to bounce on her toes a bit. Up on the scoreboard, a countdown is marching toward their start time.

A mixed audience of humans and spirits populates the stands. Most of the humans are there for the game. A winning team and a losing team. Most of the spirits are there for the spectacle, the vision of auras and showy streaks that Korra knows the players all give off, invisible to most human eyes.

And many in the crowd are even there for her, chanting her name, waving posters with her face on them.

Not a single person calls her ‘Avatar’ anymore.

The inspectors finish. It’s time to start.

Korra hops onto her board and loops her boot hooks into place. In an instant, she’s airborn. Lifted on the essence of her own energy.

*

After the game (after the WIN) Korra stumbles back to her hotel suite and manages a passable shower before collapsing on the bed. She does manage to put a towel under herself first, so there’s something to catch the water dripping off her hair.

It’s moments like this that Korra idly wishes she was a waterbender or something. It would make several very mundane things much easier. After a moment’s thinking, she figures an airbender or firebender could probably use their abilities to facilitate quicker hair drying if they wanted to.

“Poor earthbenders, I guess,” she mumbles, fumbling for her spirit buds off the bedside table. Once they’re in, she tunes to her room’s private frequency and turns the viewing screen on.

Game or not, there’s something on the broadcast schedule that she’s been looking forward to all day.

There’s a bookmark in the right channel. Korra flips to it directly.

A moment later, Asami appears on the screen.

Korra doesn't even realize she’d tensed her muscles until, all at once, they relax.

“Hey, Asami,” she says.

Her friend is looking right into the camera. For a moment, Korra even indulges the fantasy that Asami will respond.

Except the relay isn’t two-way.

“Thanks for tuning in,” Asami says. She pulls her lips into a smile. “I’m glad you all can join me for this week’s installment. It means a lot to have everyone’s support on this journey.”

Asami gestures behind her, and the shot widens. She talks for a couple minutes about the temple she’s at. Some if its history and importance.

For that bit, her smile looks real again. _This_ is the Asami that Korra knows. The biggest nerd in the physical world.

And then the smile is gone, replaced by the not-smile. It’s about as genuine as Asami’s comfort with her orange clothing. “We’re going to take a short break,” Asami says, “and then you’ll be able to see some of the training tools I’ve been using to learn airbending. Uh. See you in just a minute.” The bad smile is there again. “This is—“

“The Avatar Frequency,” Korra says it at the same time before the feed cuts to a commercial.

She puts her face down on the towel, right in the wet spot her hair has left.

“Why do I do this to myself every week?” she asks her towel.

It’s a game day. It’s even a winning game day. Korra is missing an amazing party at this very second. She could easily watch the feed on request later.

But then she remembers the flash of Asami’s real smile, in between the fake ones.

Korra hasn’t seen Asami in-person since before she was drafted to the team. Not since Asami was whisked away to master airbending.

The commercial buzzes like static in Korra’s ears.

Why do they make her do that show.

Why is Asami not allowed to receive direct comms at the air temples.

Why is Korra so far away.

Why is Asami’s smile so broken.

When can Korra try to fix it.

Her thoughts run in circles over the same questions. She does this every week.

Then the show is back on. Korra sits up. Even if it’s a fake smile. Even if it’s all one way. Even if she’s staying in like an Avatar groupie instead of partying with the team.

The next time she sees Asami, Korra will fix the smile. They’ll erase their time apart.

“Avatar, schmavatar,” Korra mumbles, pulling the towel up to pat her hair dry. “Bending is _so_ overrated.”

But she watches the show all the way to the end. And can’t help her own smile at the sight of Asami’s hair whipping in the wind.

Maybe airbending is good for some things after all.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Boop. Time period for this is age 20ish.
> 
> Honestly, I'm a big fan of athlete!Korra in all her incarnations. Seeing her in the pro-bending world was really lovely in canon, and I enjoy AUs and variants where Korra can lean into her superstar appeal and competitive drive.
> 
> Korra's prowess with her lev board is _heavily_ influenced by Giant Spirit Korra from the Season 2 finale. If Korra's got THAT kinda personal spirit power floating around, Avatar spirit Raava or no Raava, then I imagine she can do some Fun Stuff with that. Especially if she wasn't distracted by this whole 'avatar' or 'being a bender' nonsense.
> 
> In a world where Korra had an alternate outlet for all her inner spirit energy shit? Get OUT of the way!
> 
> Oh yeah and Asami is the Avatar in a hyper-connected world that has kind of commodified the Avatar stories as their dominant pop culture canon.
> 
> Thoughts? Comments? Theories? Tomorrow's prompt is _Dancing_! See you then :)


End file.
